


The Operatives

by ladycolt



Series: The Captive [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, BAMF Bucky Barnes, Evil Howard Stark, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Omega Bucky Barnes, Rape/Non-con Elements, bucky barnes has a daughter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23389435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladycolt/pseuds/ladycolt
Summary: Karma catches up with Howard Stark—or rather, Bucky Barnes catches up to him.
Relationships: Howard Stark/Maria Stark mentioned, past Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes mentioned
Series: The Captive [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682338
Comments: 10
Kudos: 145





	The Operatives

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said I wasn’t writing any more of this, but I really wanted Howard to get his comeuppance, so here you go. This is the last of it though really!

It was the same building.

Nearing thirty years, and Howard Stark was still at the same address. Based on his most recent intel, he’d even knocked down the walls to the apartment he'd once given to Steve to use as a prison, so he could have the whole floor to himself.

"You don't have to come with me," a young woman said quietly. "I think I can handle one decrepit old alpha on my own."

Bucky huffed out a laugh, letting himself be amused because falling apart wasn’t an option. “Hey, watch it, kiddo,” he told her, looking up. “Stark’s only a couple years older than me.” 

She reached back to check her ponytail, which she’d put high up to try and tame the wild dark brown curls that still managed to fall to the middle of her back. Her eyes were laughing when she looked back at him, the exact same shade of blue as his. “Maybe, but he definitely has not aged as well,” she said wryly. 

Bucky just shook his head, because that was an understatement if it was anything. He hadn’t actually aged at all. 

“I mean it, you know,” she whispered. “I can handle this. I know what this place was to you.” 

“That’s why I’ve got to do this,” he said. “Because that’s what it is to her right now.” 

“Dad—“ the woman started. 

He looked at her quickly. “Can’t call me that in public, baby girl, you know better.” 

She made a face. “Then don’t call me _that_ ,” she insisted. “If one more person mistakes us for a couple—“ 

“Freddie,” he corrected, though his eyes were sparkling. “It’s fine. I can handle this.” 

The trouble with his daughter growing up was that she’d caught up to him. Now they looked more like twins than they did father and daughter. More often than not, that was the cover they used. 

Because he’d stopped aging at twenty-five, when his abusive alpha had passed the serum off to him, activating whatever Hydra had started. Or, that was one theory, anyway. His child was a born super soldier, the first and only one, and he was the one that had carried her. 

Freddie somehow seemed even more ageless than he did. The latest theory was she wouldn’t be growing much older, either, even though she was only twenty-four. The latest test revealed her healing was likely even more advanced than his. 

“Fine. Then we need to get moving, it’s nearing dawn,” Freddie decided, leading the way towards the building. 

Twenty-five years ago he’d come stumbling out those front doors in a tattered Captain America costume, barely managing to keep himself on his feet. Now he walked back in side by side with his daughter, both of them in coveralls with a bogus company insignia and baseball caps pulled down low. 

They’d both injected suppressants before the mission, making them read like betas, so no one paid them a second glance as they headed towards the service stairway. The nightshift only had one doorman, and one security guard, and they were both on the SSR payroll. 

Peggy, for her part, truly had been aging gracefully, and was even sharper now than the day he’d met her. There were rarely any hiccups in the jobs she planned. She liked to tease him that the downside to him not aging was he’d never get to grow up. 

But maybe she was right, because he still felt like her protege all these years later. 

The two of them made their way steadily up the stairs, their quick pace not changing even as they climbed ever closer to the penthouse. 

Bucky glanced up at his daughter’s stiff back worriedly as they made it within two floors of their target. “Don’t forget the plan,” he warned her quietly. 

Freddie was the spitting image of him, but so often she reminded him of her alpha father instead. He would never, ever, say that to her, because she wouldn’t understand he didn’t mean it as an insult. 

Because she reminded him most of the Steve he’d first met, the one he’d loved with all his heart. She always spoke up for those that couldn’t speak up on their own, never met a fight she didn’t like, and had a hair trigger temper. She didn’t take lightly to anyone that hurt her family. 

And aside from the obvious exception of Steve Rogers, no one had hurt Bucky more than Howard Stark. 

And Steve—well, there was a reason they didn’t talk about Steve. 

“Freddie, I mean it,” he whispered harshly. 

“Fine, fine,” she tossed back, throwing out her arms. “I promise I won’t kill the bastard. Feel better?” 

“I’ll feel better when it’s done,” he said. 

“It would be a lot quicker if we were going with my plan,” Freddie told him, glancing back at him with a sly little grin. 

Her plan had been to put a bullet through Howard Stark’s brain before he even knew they were there. There were times he seriously questioned his parenting, but he suspected that was Peggy’s influence more than it was his. Or possibly her aunt’s. 

Bucky’s not gonna lie to himself and pretend that hadn’t held some appeal for him too, but that wasn’t why they were here. Not tonight. 

They stop at the doorway to the penthouse floor, and strip out of the overalls. They have their SSR uniforms beneath them, which due to their covert nature, are unmarked. They were just skintight and black, complete with harnesses for their various tools of the trade. 

The US had been improving their treatment of omegas, if you could call their slow move forward progress, but the two of them wearing these military suits alone was enough to get them thrown into a reconditioning camp. The few omegas that were beginning to be allowed to work had only been allowed to take receptionist or secretarial jobs, with a couple getting permission to teach young children. Some omegas in extremely bad situations had been granted the right to divorce, but the system was still warped enough that it didn’t apply to anyone with enough money to influence the courts. 

For all of the small progress, it was still a terrible place for an omega to grow up—and that was why they were here. 

Bucky knelt down by the door and pulled out his lock picks, while Freddie pulled out her gun to guard his back. “Let’s hope Peggy’s guy already shut off the alarm,” she said. 

“No names,” Bucky chided. 

“Oh, right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s hope _The Sparrow_ has taken care of the alarm.”

“So disrespectful, Freddie. What would Peggy think?” Bucky asked wryly. 

Freddie kicked at his boot playfully as she realized he was teasing her. “She already knows very well what both us are like,” she said. “I think she gave up on teaching us protocol years ago.” 

Peggy no longer joined them on ops, but she now ran the entire SSR. Bucky and Freddy both had trust issues with the other members of the SSR, considering every last one of them was an alpha. But no one that went against them ever lasted very long in the ranks. 

The door opened with a quiet click, and there were no blaring alarms. It looked like Peggy’s agent had come through. 

He glanced back at Freddie and she nodded. They’d communicate silently until they’d secured the target, but they knew each other well enough that was never an issue. 

The penthouse looked nothing like it had when he’d lived there, and the differences calmed his frayed nerves. He pulled out his own gun, and that helped, too. 

Peggy had taught him all kinds of things, but no one had ever had to teach him how to shoot a gun. He’d been preternaturally good at it back in the war even before he had the serum running through his veins, and now he was basically unstoppable with one. 

His mission wasn’t to kill Howard Stark, but if he had to kill Howard Stark to complete the mission, well, c'est la vie.

He went one way while Freddie went the other. They didn’t need to turn on the lights to see well enough in the dark of the apartment, and he carefully took note of everything he passed. Considering the awful omega devices scattered across the workbench, it didn’t look like Howard had changed his ways at all since they’d last met. 

He found the alpha sound asleep in his bed. He’d gone grey, and had wrinkles creeping in around his eyes, but the truth was that Stark had aged fairly well himself. He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt to sleep, but was at least wearing pants. 

Concernedly, his wife was not beside him. 

Bucky reached out and clicked on the bedside lamp, and Howard jerked awake. His eyes widened, and then latched onto Bucky. He watched his expression go from terrified to confused, when it really should have stuck with terrified. 

“Barnes?” he asked. 

Bucky flicked a device about the size of a nickel out of the palm of his hand, and it flew out to attach itself onto Stark’s chest—then it sparked to life, sending enough waves of electricity through Stark to knock him out. Peggy always let them test out the best toys. 

He carelessly reached out to grab the unconscious man by the ankle, and tug him to the floor. He dragged him behind him into the living room, flicking on the lights as he went. Freddie came out from a room on the other side. 

“Did you find her?” Bucky asked. 

“She’s getting dressed,” Freddie said calmly, but something in her voice gave her anger away. 

“How is she?” Bucky asked. 

“The bastard's got her bruised everywhere but her face and her stomach,” Freddie’s eyes were glistening, but more with anger than tears. “He’d left her tied to the desk in his office. All night, dad.” 

“Well, that’s the last time that’s gonna happen,” Bucky reassured her, as he unceremoniously let Howard’s leg drop and slam into the ground. “You got the rope?” 

Freddie tossed him a short coiled rope, and Bucky lifted Howard with one had on his upper arm to toss him into a chair and secure him to it. He was just starting to come to when Bucky reached out to carefully pull the stunner off his chest. It left behind a dark charred circle in the center of his chest, like a brand. 

“He awake yet? I’d like to get this part of out of the way before she joins us,” Freddie said, glancing back behind them in worry. 

“You ungrateful bitch,” Howard muttered, spitting blood from having bit either his lip or his tongue. 

“Surprised you remember me,” Bucky said, crossing his arms. “Don’t really remember you ever looking me in the face.” 

Howard sneered. “You didn’t belong to me, wouldn’t be polite,” he snapped. “But I’ve wasted years of my life trying to track you down for Steve.” 

“Yes, you’re such a good friend,” Bucky said, mock-sweetly. “Except you didn’t mind dropping him the moment he couldn’t do anything more for you, did you?” 

“You’re the one that destroyed him,” Howard snarled. 

“Yes,” Bucky agreed. “But he tried to destroy me first, so is it really fair to hold it against me just because I won?” 

“You haven’t won anything,” Howard said. “You’ve lost everything he would have given you, everything he would have done for you.” 

“And yet here you are, talking to me like I’m a person all the sudden,” Bucky said, kneeling down to look Howard in the eye. “It’s because it doesn’t matter what any of us are, not really. It’s all about power for men like you—and right now, I’m the one that’s got it.” 

Howard glared at him, but didn’t bother to refute it. “What is it you want?” 

“Your wife,” Bucky said easily. 

Predictably, Howard exploded. He started yelling at them not to touch her, that they’d be in a reeducation camp before the sun came up, that he’d see to it personally they got the worst alphas imaginable. 

Bucky just sighed and got to his feet. “You about done?” 

Howard narrowed his eyes at him. “Steve used to tell me about what he would do to you, you know, he told me all about that sweet ass of yours,” he said. “Told me about the sounds you used to make as he’d pound you for hours. You don’t even have any idea the kinds of things he didn’t get to do to you. I’d given him so many toys, and he was planning to try every one of them out on you. Hell, maybe I’ll just keep you both for myself, we can try them out together.” 

“I don’t know if maybe it’s escaped your notice,” Freddie said wryly, pulling out a small knife and spinning it casually in one hand, “but you’re tied to a chair.” Bucky put out a hand to stop her as she stepped towards Howard, and she looked at him with a pout. “Oh, come on, Auntie Becs would let me castrate him.” 

Howard blanched, looking truly afraid for the first time since they arrived. Freddie laughed at his expression. 

“Aw, don’t worry, I’m just teasing,” she told him, with an edge to her faux playful tone. “I wouldn’t touch you there with a ten foot pole. I’d definitely just shoot you.”

“That would be a mistake,” Howard said. 

“Oh?” she asked. “I mean, from everything you’ve said, it doesn’t seem very bright to leave you alive.” 

“We could—“ Howard swallowed hard, licking his lips. “Ah, we could make a deal. I haven’t seen Steve since we finally gave up on recreating the super serum. But with you, Barnes—if I could just—“ 

“That is never going to happen,” Bucky said coldly. 

“You’re the only one,” Howard insisted. “You’re the only successful super soldier left. It’s obviously still working, or you wouldn’t still look like the last time I saw you. That makes you more valuable than a typical omega. You’re unique.” 

“Oh, he’s not quite the only one,” Freddie said, and Howard’s eyes moved to her. 

Howard had thought she was a sister, the way they looked alike, but even Barnes’ little sister would be nearing fifty by now. The realization came suddenly. “You’re Steve’s daughter.” 

“Definitely not,” Freddie snorted. 

Howard gave her an assessing look-over. “You don’t look anything live Steve. Pity.” 

“That’s because I’m a Barnes,” Freddie said. “And much like my only parent, I know how to handle a gun. So I suggest you get a handle on your tongue.” 

“You’ve come into my house, are kidnapping me, and you expect me to be civil?” Howard asked. “This is why omegas aren’t suited to this line of work.” 

“You think we’re kidnappers?” Freddie asked, before grinning widely. “Oh, that’s adorable. We’re not here for you. You are definitely not worth it.” 

“They’re here for me.” 

Bucky and Freddie both stepped to opposite sides, allowing Maria to approach. She was wearing a blue satin empire waist gown, long enough it was dragging on the ground behind her, and her long blonde hair had been twisted into an impromptu bun. 

“Maria?” Howard asked, swallowing hard. “What are you doing? Where did you get clothes?” 

“You spoke of the stories that Steve used to tell,” Maria said, her quiet voice sounded regal somehow, and so much stronger than his. “I listened to those too. I listened about the omega that rose up and took down his own alpha, that managed to escape from him and keep his child safe.” 

Maria looked down at her own stomach, which was nearly eight months along with her own first child. “And I realized, I wanted that for mine too.” 

“You can’t leave me,” Howard snapped. “I will find you anywhere, and drag you back.” 

“Our child is an omega,” Maria continued, as though she hadn’t even heard him. She looked up and met his eyes. “I found out last week.”

“The doctor would have told me,” Howard said, shaking his head. “The papers said alpha—“ 

“That doctor of yours was really one of ours,” Bucky said. “He’s long gone now, in case you’re thinking of retribution. You’ll never find him.”

“I needed to buy myself time, it was better to let you think that,” she said. “And you were so very pleased, but it didn’t stop you hurting me.” 

“It’s my right to do whatever I want to you,” Howard said. “I may not be able to give you the punishment I want while you’re still carrying my child, but just you wait—“ 

Freddie slipped behind him in a flash, and pressed the knife against his neck, cutting off the rest of his words. “Tsk, tsk,” she whispered. “Is that any way to talk to the people that could spare your life?”

“You can’t kill me,” Howard said. “You would have done it already.” 

“I wouldn’t say we _can’t_ ,” Bucky said, pulling a stack of folded pages from one of the larger pockets on his vest. “But it’s true we would prefer not to. For logistical reasons, I mean. I think we’ve made our personal positions clear.” 

He stepped forward, unfolding the document. “So, if you want to live, all you have to do is sign this,” he told him. He held it open in front of Howard so he could read it, and watched as the alpha got progressively more disgusted. 

“You have to be joking,” he said. 

“No, I’m really not,” Bucky said. “All you have to do is divorce your omega due to a failed bond, and sign the company over to your child the moment he’s of age. Regardless of gender or designation. I think that’s pretty reasonable, considering the alternative is that we let Freddie try it her way.” 

“You don’t end up with anything, with my way,” Freddie explained, flashing a grin that looked like the grin captured on pictures of James Barnes, back before the war. 

“What makes you think I’d ever honor it?” Howard demanded. 

“We’ve got friends in high places. The moment you sign these papers, they’ll be pushed through,” Bucky explained. “By the time the newspapers start hitting everyone’s front porch in the morning, the story’s gonna be everywhere, cause we already leaked it. 

“So maybe ask yourself what’s worse; getting divorced from your omega for a failed bond, or admitting your omega forced you into a divorce?” Bucky asked wryly. “I mean, your stock value is dropping either way, and you’re never gonna lay another hand on Maria, I can promise that. But if you act like you had some say in this, you may save what little we plan to leave of your reputation.”

“How can you do this?” Howard demanded, looking at Maria. “Our bond isn’t a failed bond. You’re carrying my child! You both belong to me!” 

“That’s why I’m doing this,” Maria said. “I know what you would do to any children we have. What you would teach them. What you planned to do to me, in front of them. I’ve wanted to escape you since the moment I met you, but I wasn’t brave enough. Not until now.” 

“You’re going to pay for this my darling, I can promise that,” Howard told her. 

“We can take you out from over 200 yards away,” Freddie said casually. “We will, easily, if you go after her or don’t hold up your end of the deal. The only reason you get to live is that our boss thinks the optics are better if you’re still alive, but if you push us, we’ve got a contingency.” 

Bucky pulled out the last page in his stack, and held it up. “She means you could sign this one instead.” 

It was a suicide note—claiming that he could no longer live with the horrible way he had treated his omega, and that he was leaving everything to Maria. 

“I say we do it, let’s go ahead with plan B,” Freddie decided. “I know how to shoot him in the temple so it looks like he was holding the gun himself.” 

“No,” Maria said, her voice ringing through the large room even though she’d barely raised it. “He’s going to give me a divorce.” 

Howard glared at her. “After all I’ve done for—“ 

Maria stepped forward and slapped him hard. “Consider your next words carefully, because they’ll be the last you’ll ever say to me,” she said. “But I suppose I never really meant anything to you, did I?” 

“You served your purpose,” Howard said, his lip curling up into a sneer. “At least up until now.” 

“There’s one more requirement that isn’t in the contract, but if you break it, I will stop reigning Freddie in,” Maria said calmly. “You can never take another omega. If you do, you won’t live long enough to bond them.” 

Howard glared up at his omega. “You can’t stand the thought of me with someone else, huh?” 

“I can’t stand the thought of another omega suffering in my place because I was too weak to let them kill you,” Maria said. 

“Let’s be honest, Howard, no one’s gonna give you an omega’s hand after this anyway,” Bucky told him. “Take the deal.” 

Howard stared them down for a moment, expressionless, before coming to a decision. “I’ll need my hands.” 

“Freddie,” Bucky said quietly. 

She moved the knife from his neck, and reluctantly cut the ropes holding him to the chair. Then she pulled out her gun and held it to the side of his head. “Don’t try anything,” she said. “I’m honestly desperate for a reason.” 

For better or worse, Howard didn’t give her one. He signed the papers and handed them back. 

Bucky folded them and returned them back to his pocket. “Freddie, get Maria out of here.” 

“You got it,” she said, gently reaching out to offer Maria her hand and lead her out. 

“You’re not going to get away with this, you know,” Howard told Bucky once they were alone. 

“Gonna be a little hard to pin anything on me,” Bucky said. “Bucky Barnes is a fifty year old omega single parent living somewhere off the grid in Denmark. Good luck putting out those wanted posters.” 

“I don’t need to find you through any official channel, but I will find you,” Howard promised. 

“That would mean more coming from someone that _hadn’t_ been trying to find me without success for the last twenty-five years,” Bucky said. “You’ve got no play here. This world? It’s not the one we lived in before, it’s changing fast, and you better learn to keep up. Because those friends in high places I mentioned? We will all be watching you, very closely. If you make any move to harm Maria or her child, we will stop you. And the next time, we won’t bother to introduce ourselves.” 

“You should let me help you, Barnes,” Howard said, making his tone insultingly patronizing, like he was talking to a loved pet. “That serum obviously did something to you. This isn’t how an omega should act.” 

“I was a decorated sergeant before they knew what I was, Howard,” Bucky told him. “While you were playing with your experiments well out of the line of fire, I was at war. We’re not what you think we are, and for your sake, I hope you learn that quick.” 

Bucky stepped away from him, into the dark of the hallway, and then slipped out the door. Howard didn’t send up the alarm, which was an encouraging sign, and managed to make it to the car waiting for him on the curb without incident. He slipped into the passenger seat. 

Maria was in the back seat, trembling, but with her head held up in a way he’d bet she hadn’t been allowed to do in years. “Is he still alive?” she asked. 

“Yes,” Bucky said. 

“We can’t give him time to think,” Maria said. “He’ll find a way to use this in his favor.”

“Peggy won’t let that happen,” Bucky promised. “You’ll be safe with her. I was.” 

“Did you really throw your alpha into a wall and walk right out the front door in his uniform?” Maria asked quietly. 

He saw Freddie go stiff at the wheel. He hadn’t told her that particular story. “Yes,” he admitted. 

“You’re the reason I was brave enough to let that doctor help me,” she said, before looking down at her stomach. “Well, and him.” 

Bucky grinned. “It’s a boy?” 

Maria looked back up at them, smiling softly, her hands resting on her stomach. “Yes,” she said. “He’s gonna rule the world someday.” 

Bucky gave a sad grin, and turned his eyes towards the road. “Let’s hope he does a better job with it than the rest of us.” 

They dropped Maria off a few blocks over, where Peggy was waiting for her at the curb. They did’t get out of the car, because it was best if they weren’t seen. 

“She looks like a princess,” Freddie said with a sigh, leaning forward to watch as Maria rushed into Peggy’s waiting arms. They both knew Peggy would take care of her now. She’d have that place better guarded than an actual castle. 

“I think she really is gonna change the world, along with that baby she’s carrying,” Bucky decided. 

“Dad—“ Freddie started quietly. “Do you ever think about him?” 

Bucky didn’t have to ask for clarification. “Do you?” he countered. “Because you know I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” 

“Do you think he’s still alive?” she asked. 

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment, and then shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “But the man I really loved, he died years before you were born.” He turned to face her. “We could find him, if you wanted.” 

“Nah, we’ve got better things to do,” Freddie decided, keeping her eyes on the door Maria had disappeared into. “You know Stark’s never going to hold up his end of the deal.” 

“Yes, I know,” he said, and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. “I got us a new place right across the street from him, just in case.” 

Freddie flashed a wolfish grin, and pulled out into the road. “Oh, I bet it’s got an amazing view.”


End file.
